Andreas Pereira has been starring for Fulham this season after never really shining during his long spell with Manchester United, but the Brazil international has thanked Jose Mourinho for the work they did together at Old Trafford.
The 27-year-old was a Manchester United player from 2011-22, but rarely held down a first team place and spent time out on loan at Granada, Valencia, Lazio and Flamengo.
Pereira did play reasonably regularly from 2018-20 with the Red Devils, first under Mourinho and then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and he has fond memories of both bosses.
He believes the widely-held belief that Mourinho doesn’t show faith in youngsters is not necessarily true, as he helped his career at the time.
‘Even if it looks from the outside that he doesn’t give opportunities to young players, I don’t agree with it,’ Pereira told The Guardian. ‘I got in the national team mainly because of him. He made me play deeper and helped me see the game from another perspective.
‘My first thought was: “Whoa, I cannot defend, I have to learn.” But he showed me some stuff I had to do better. It’s José Mourinho. You want to learn off the best.
It may not have worked out in the end at Old Trafford for the versatile midfielder, but he also enjoyed his time under Solskjaer.
‘Ole was great,’ he said. ‘He played me more in offensive roles. The season after, I played a lot. Then Covid came. Every time I was building something with United something got in the way.’
Pereira signed for Fulham last summer for a fee of around £10m and has been a regular in their impressive Premier League campaign so far, making 24 league appearances and scoring two goals.
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